Grinding or cutting apparatus



Nov. 18,' 1930. L. H. THULLEN GRINDING OR CUTTING APPARfTUS Filed N0v- 29, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 n @www ww..

Nov. 18, 1930. v 1 H. THULLEN l782123 GRINDING OR CUTTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 29, 1926 2 sheets-'sneu 2 @mum/1to1 Patented` NovI 178, y133930 roursn. frnirnLriN,V or nnsmonerrsn, NEWjJEnsEY i 'i A GRINDING QRVCUTTINGAPrARATUs]- u i f 'Application/mea Vinmmber y29, 192s.Y serial iva-151,306.

- My invention relates to improvementsyin cutting apparatus and more` particularly to apparatus for cutting orgrinding 'wood or v the like for the purpose of 'making -comminuted wood or similar materials. Them'ain object ofthe inventionis to YYprovide an apparatus which operates more vevenly and efiiciently and withoutdanger toy the parts.`

Further andmore specific objects, features and advantagesV will more clearly appear from the detailed description ,given below taken in connection 'with the accompany-i-ng drawingswhich form a part of this slaeciii .ca tion. f v f In theV drawings, F 1 is yja v-view largely diagrammatical illustrating apparatus em-V bodying myinvention in a' preferred form thereof;

Fig.. 2 illustrates a mo form of 4the y arrangement for feeding the wood'korthe like to the grinding element;

'the liney 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4l isa vertical section illustrating. a modified arrangement for applying the ma-l terial to be ground to the grinding element; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section illustrating a still further modification.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, 6 represents a rotarycutting element or grinding stone rigidly secured on ashaft 7`by suitable clamping plates 8. Shaftrota'tes in suitable bearings at 9 carried by suitable frame work 110,

v kwhich also carries a container or passageway 11 into which the wood 12 or other material to be ground is placed. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, passageway ll'fis substantially filled with logs of wood 12. Operatingin the passageway 11 is a plunger 13voperated by a spindle 14. The spindle 1'4 is connected to a piston 15 yoperating in a .cylinder `16. 17 represents a pipe connected to suitable source of air or otheriiuid under fixed pres- ,45 sure (preferably oil under pressure) andthis pipe is connected to the bottom and top of the cylinder 16 by two'passageways 18 and 19` respectively. A manually operated `valve 20 may be turned to close the passage 18 and ,.50 open the passage 19, or'clos'e the passage 19 Fig.'3 is a section taken substantially on lat 28 journaled in the/frame 21./ Connected tating therewith.

and openthe passage 18, .so that according y' to the Vposition of the valve 20 the fluid under pressure from pipe 17 will raise the pistonV 15v orlower thepiston 175 respectively and so raise the plunger 13 orlower the plunger 1,3 and press the woodj12 intoengagement -With the grinding wheel 6 with a force pro-v portionalto the pressure applied to the pisum 15. f .Y ltigidly connected to one end of the shaft 7A isa casing 21 of a Huid pum Rotating within fthe casing 21 `is a sha t 22 to,` the outer. end ofwhich is connecteda gearlv23 by means ofwhichthe shaft 22may befroi tated by any suitable prime mover. 4`WVithin c5 thecasing 21 there is provided a framev work. 23a which is non-rotatable with respect to the casing 21 and rotates therewith about the axis of the'sha'ft22, but may be tilted 'to vai rious positions within the casing 21 byturns. 70 ing a shaft y24 in amanner notshown, but well' understood by those skilled in the art. The frame work 23a is provided with roller bearings y25 againstwhich there rotates a. ro-` tating member 26, pivoted Awith respect to, but rotated by, the shaft 22, the member 26 being pivoted tofthe shaft 22 about an `axis at 27, which aXis extends at right angles to the shaft v22. TheA shaftV 22 has an .extension to the member 26 by ball and socket joints 'are piston rods 29 operating pistons 30 in cylinders 31 in the member 32 securedfrigidlyA ony the extension 28 yof the shaft 22 and rol Assuming the casing 21 be kept stationary y andthe shaft 22 rotated, Athe pistons 30 will be caused to move .back and forth in the cylinders 31, thereby operatinglike. pumps yand the head portion 33 yof the casing 21 is 90 provided withV certain passages 34 and and grooves at 36Vand 37 so that if the passage 34 be connected to a vsuitable oil or vother Huid supply, the same will be drawn into the cylin-A ders 31'wlien the pistons 3() are moved outf- V95y Y wardly therefrom and the oilor other Huid l willbe compressed in the cylinders 30 Vand forced out thereof through the passage`-35 when `the pistons 30 againmove backint-o the cylinders due to the rotation of the shaft .22. 10Q f Thus the apparatus acts as a fluid orhydraulic pump and since such pumps are well known inthe art further description thereof is believedA to vbe unnecessary. Y

The shaft 7 provided with two passages 38 and 39 Vextending substantiallyV entirely therethrough, which passages communicate with the passages 34 and 35`respectively at `the end of the shaft 7 where it is connected.

to the hydraulic pump frame 21. In the same way passager 39 is'connected to the 'passage 35. At the other end ofshaft 7 the passage 38 is connected to a pipe section'40 which exf tends into a stuffing-box 41, which in turn is connected to a tank or other source of voil orfluidf supply 42 by a stationarypipe 43. The passage `39 is maintained in open communication with astationary pipe A44 by means of a suitable stuffingV box connection 45.` Thus if the shaft 22 be rotated while the shaft 7 be stationary, or if the shaft 22 be rotatedv at greater speed than the shaft 7v whereby there is relative `rotation between the shaft22 and the fluid pump casing 21,

Voil or other fluid is withdrawn from the sup-V represents another pipe connected to the valve 46 but always in'free communication with the pipe'44; The pipe 48 is connected to a reduction valve 49 of any suitable variety and fromithe valve 49the fluid under pres sureY is conducted tothe bottom of the cylin der l'bymeans of pipe 50.V A valve 51 is shown `in this pipe so that the pipe may be closed off from thebottom of the cylinder 16 when desired. A branch pipe 52 leads from pipe- 50 to a diaphragm motor 53 adapt-ed to actuate a valve 54 in the supply pipe 17, so that with the valve 55 open if the pressure in the pipe 50 reaches apredetermined value it will operatethe motor 53V and cause the same to close or partially close the Valve 54 and thus shut off or throttle the fluid supplied under pressure through pipe'17 to the top o fY piston 15 and so relieve the force thus applied tending to press the wood or materia-1 to be ground into engagement with the grinding or cutting member. a Reducing valve 49isinserted mainly for the purpose of reducing the ,pressure applied in the pipes 50. and 52'to.a `given percent or proportion of that existing in pipe 44, but variations in pressure in pipe 44 will also produce similarV percentage variations in pipes V5() and 52.

In operation the shaft 22 is driven by any suitable prime mover` through the gear 23 and Vsince the cutting member and shaft 7 tend to remain at rest at first, there will be relative ,opened wher/ebV7 increases inpress J. ,L

ifzeaiee rotation between the shafts 7 and 22, thereby causing the hydraulic pump to operate and build up a pressure in the passages 35 and 39 Y and pipes 44,48 and 50,which pressureis (with valve 55 closed and valve 51 open)` opposed Vby the pressure exerted on Vthe outside of the piston 15.V rlhisfback pressure tends toc'ause the yfluid. punipfcasing 21 to rotate with the shaft 22 andso rotate the' shaft 7 and the cutting or grinding element 6 whereby it operates tocut orV grind the wood 12 or other material as desired. If, however, the resistance or load encountered by the cutting or grinding element 5 is too great or increases unduly,then therel will be further relative rotation between the shafts 7 and 22 causing a higher pressureto beA built up in the passages`35'andv39 Vand pipes 44, and 50, so

, that aY greater pressurer will be exerted on the underneath side 'of the piston 15! and thereby decrease theforce-with which the plunger 13 presses the wood or other material into engagementwith the grinding member so that the'load or resistance which the sameV oii'ers to the'grinding member is decreased, thereby permitting the rotation of the grinding mem- .berv to return substantially to its normal speed. 'That is, the pressure or feed with which the-materialbeing operated upon 1s fedL relatively to the operating tool 1s varied in accordance with the resistance orload encounteredby'the tool 1n its work on the material operated upon.

' he torque exertedby theshaft 7 may be varied and thepressure produced inthe rpassage 34, pipes 44, 48; and 50 may be varied independently of the resistance encountered by the work member (3 by adjusting the shaft 24 so as to change the stroke of the fluid inotor and in this way the apparatus may be adjusted for diiferent conditions of work. Any suitable arrangement may be provided for usting the shaft 24 for this purpose while the fluid motor is rotating and the apparatus is in operation.

Instead'of relievingthe pressure by permitting the fluid under pressure to flow from the pipe 50 into thebottom of cylinder 1G, the valve 51 may be closed and valve y e will tend to close the valve 54 and so decrease the pressure'of the fluid supplied to the top of the'cylinder 16 and thus decrease the force with which plunger 13 operates on the inaterial 12; 1n case for any reason the reduction in force with which the plunger 13 presses upon the wood orotherniateiial 12 either by admitting the fluid underpressure to the bottomof the cylinder 16 or by the closing of the valve does not give the required relief to the grii'iding or c ting tool 6, then the'pressure in the passages and 39 will simply be built up to apoint at which thesafety or relief valve 46 will operate and Ul i.

a sape tnugapip atake an Suppiy tank42." The relief valvemay be adjusted to operate on various predeter'minedgpres-v sures. Y

' Referringto Fig'. v2, I there show a modi-y lied form of the grinding portionr ofthe apparatus. As before,k the grinding'element 6 is rotated by the shaft 7; but instead of merely having one passageway Il for thewood l2A or tool at 'diferent' points about the peripheryr of the same.` Each of the feeds 57, 58 and 59 may becontrolled by plungers operated by pistons in cylinders'O, 61 vand 62 respectively, each being automatically controlled the same as the plunger, piston and cylinder shown inV Fig-1 ,l

Referring to'Fig. 4, I there show a mo-di# ied arrangement for 'feeding the vr'Wood or other material'into operative'relation to the grinding orcutting'wheel 6j 'This consists of afsuitable container 63 preferably square or rectangular infcross-section and provided with a partition 64C dividing the space in the container into two passageways, said partition 64" sto'pping'some'distance 'short of the grind#v ing member 6 whereby vadjacent the grinding memb'erthe two passageways 65 and 66 merge into one atG'.v` TWO V'plungers 68 and 69 are provided for-operating in the passageways 65 and 66, respectivelyythese plungers being connected to pistonsjTO andZ'l operating in 'cylinder 72 and@ respectively; l/Then the `Wood 1n one passageway 65 is nearly used up, the plunger 68 vmay be raised Without .raising the plunger 69and thepassageway 65 refilled with Wood orother material to' be cut or ground and then the plunger 681eturned so'that it will exert the desired pressure on the Wood or otherfmaterial. tobe 'ground in the passageway 65 and space 67.

VIn the meantime the Wood under the plunger 69 and inr the space 6'? has been suitably fed or pressed against thefgrinding vvheel6 by the -p'lunger'6l). I Likewise, when the space or passageway 66 needs reiilling this rmay be done Without discontinuing the grinding operation since the plunger 6S`vvill properly feed the Wood or other material in thepassageway -65 andspace 6'1"- into operative engagement with the grlndingelement 6.' ,fl/'Vith this arrangement the pressure with Whiche'ach of thepistons 70 and 7l operate upon the .material to be ground may be varied responsive to thevariations in the loader resistance encountered by the grinding` element as described vin connectionwith Fig. Il.

Referring to Fi' 5v I have there shown an arrangement similar to that shown in Fig.' excepty that' thetvvo passageways' -74 and 75 instead of being parallel to one another yare It Will Vbe' understood that ter'ial in thefotherpassageis being ground or operated-upon: y; various partslin theidravvings'are not shown on the same scale and: indeed ,the drawings are in manyrespe'cts merely diagrammatic in order that the invention and improvements may be more clearly shown. n y :While I have described-my improvements in detailand with vrespect to certain pre'- ferred forms, I do not desire rtobe limited to such details or'forms, since many 1chan'gesa'nd modifications may be made and the invention' embodied in Widely different forms'and kinds e .l

of apparatus for grindingor-cutting many diferent kinds of materials in various Ways'. y Itvvill be noted that in the preferred form ofthe invention described the pressure vv'hich A is applied Ato thewvood or-'other material to f be ground tending to force it intfo engage,- ment With the grinding elementis variedn in accordance withk the amount of'surface'fof` Wood exposedtothe grinding element,rthe

roughness of the grinding element andcondition of the Wood,`etc., i. e., in .accordance with the lo'ador resistance oered bythe material being ground and according tothe invention in -its vpreferred form' the pressure on theV Wood is so varied Vand keptv at such avaluethatthe load on the apparatuswill remain substantially constant andthe grind- Will proceed in the most etlicient and rapid'm'anner and soy as to make the Wood pulp or comminutedfmaterial of the proper f and de'siredquality. S'n'ce many changes and modifications may Ibe made inthe apparatus and the invention embodied in Widely diderent forms and kinds of apparatusv Without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy improvements in their broader aspects, Idesire'to cover allmodiications;r forms and' embodiments coming Within the'language orscope of any one or more :of the appended claims.` vf' What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentisp` f l. Grinding apparatus having in combination a grinding member, a fluid pressure pump foroperating said grinding member, means for holding thematerial beingground, means whereby operation of the grinding member *builds lup a fluid Vpressure vvarying .WithI the load encountered by the grinding member, and means tendingto decreasethe fl V'pressure `With whichv the. materialv being ground is pressed against the grinding meinber iresponsive tok increases 'Y in Y; said 'l Huid' Apressure 2.,z Apparatus having in `combinationda4 Vrotary cuttingV member, a driving shaft, Vmeans Whereb operation of thedri-ving shaft builds Vup. a` uid pressuremean s whereby said fluidpressure facts to rotate the Icutting member, with a force proportional toV said fluid ,pressure,`means forholding the material to be cut in juxtaposition to the cuts vtingmember, and means regulating the pres* sure with which the material tobe Vcut is forced aga-inst the cutting `member respon-k siveto variations in said fluid'pressure.V

3 The combination of a rotary cutting member, a driving shaft,.meaiis whereby operation of the driving shaft builds up a fluid pressure, means whereby said fluid pressure lacts torotate the cutting member, means for holding thematerial to be cutrin juxtapo sition to the cutting member, and means whereby fthe feed of thematerial being cut with respect to the cuttingmember is controlledresponsive to variations in said fiuid pressure.`

4. The .combination of a `rotary cutting member, a driving shaft, means whereby operationof the driving shaft builds up a fluid pressure, means 'whereby said fluid pressure acts Eto rotate the cutting member, means for holding the material tobe'cut in juxtapositionto the cutting member and means independent of said driving shaftV for limiting.

' ing Vto build up ak fluid pressure dependent upon the resistance encountered by the cutting member in its work, and means permitting thegescape of the fluid under pressure when a predetermined pressure 4has been reached.

6.v The combination of a cutting member, means holdingmaterial to be cut in operative positionwith respect toy the cutting vmember, a driving shaft,'c onnections, be-

tween the vdriving shaft and the. Cutting lmember whereby said shaft will operate the cutting member, said connections embodying means acting to build up a predetermined fluid pressure dependent upon the resistance encountered by the cutting member in itsV work,rand lmeans `whereby said predetermined pressure maybe `adjusted for differ- .;ent values. f l

7 `The combination of a cutting member, means holdingmaterial to be cut in opera- Ative position with respect to the cutting member, Va driving shaft, connections between the vdriving shaft and the cutting Vmember whereby said .shaft will operate the cutting member, said connections embodying means actingV to ,build up :a vfluid presmamas sure dependent upon the yresistance encountered by the cutting memberin its work, and

`means ywhereby t-he pressure with which the material being cut engages the 'cutting member is controlled responsive `to variations in said fluid pressure. A

8. VThe combination of a cutting member, means holding material to be cut in operative position with respect to the cutting member, a driving shaft,VV connections between the driving shaft and the cutting member whereby said shaft will operate the cutting member, said connections embodying means acting to build up a fluid pressure dependent upon theV resistances encountered by the cutting member in its work, means whereby the pressure with which the material being cutengages the cutting inember is controlled responsive to variations in said iluid'pressure, and means preventing the pressure of the fluid exceeding a predetermined value.

V9. The combination Vof a rotary cutting member, means holding andpressing material to be cut into engagement with the cutting member, a driving shaft, a shaft driving the cutting member, means connecting said shafts and acting to build up a fluid pressure in accordance with the load encountered by the cutting member, and means whereby `said fluid `pressure acts to oppose the pressure forcing the material tobe cut into engagement with Vthe cutting member.

l0. The combination of a rotary cutting member, means vholding and Dressing material to be cut into engagement with the cutting member, a driving shaft,` a shaft driving the cutting member, means connectv'ing said shafts and acting to build up a fluid pressurein accordance with the load encountered `by Vthe cutting member, and means whereby said fluid pressure acts to oppose the pressure forcing the material to be cut into engagement with the cutting member and means permitting the escape of said fluid `under pressure when a predetermined pres- .sure has been reached to limit the force actuating the cutting member.

l1. Cutting apparatus having in combination a cuttingmember, a fluid pressure pump for operating said grinding member, means acting to buildup a fluid pressure varying with the resistance encountered by the cutting member, means for holding the material to becutandmeans acting to decrease the pressure with which the material being cut is'vpre'ssed against the `cutting member responsive to increases in said fluid pressure.

Vl2.. Cutting apparatus having in combination a cutting member, means acting to build up a fluid pressure varying with the Yresistance encountered bythe cutting ineinber, means for holding the material to be cut and means acting to decrease the pressure with which the material being cut is pressed against the cutting member responl sive to increases in said uid. pressure, saidV K last mentioned means including a yfluid pres-y sure operated piston' for forcing the material to loe out against the cutting member.

lIn testimony whereof I have signed* my name to this specication.

LOUIS H. TAI-IULLEN. 

